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Dookhan's Lab Coworker Testifies At Drug Trial

A former coworker of a chemist charged in Massachusetts drug lab scandal has testified the chemist appeared to have unfettered access to the lab.

Daniella Frasca testified Thursday during the drug trial of Shawn Drumgold, a Boston man wrongfully convicted of a 1988 homicide and now facing drug charges.

Drumgold's lawyer, Rosemary Scapicchio, is challenging the drug evidence in the case, arguing it could've been tainted by chemist Annie Dookhan.

Dookhan is charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly mishandling drug samples.

"It's clear that there was a possibility of contamination, and there's not a single person who's gonna be able to testify that it wasn't contaminated," Scapicchio said.

Frasca said Dookhan didn't test the drugs in Drumgold's case but checked the samples' identification numbers when they were transferred from Frasca, who did a preliminary test, to a second chemist who confirmed the results.

Frasca also said Dookhan had codes to deactivate the lab's alarm system and to a computer in the lab's evidence room.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This article was originally published on October 11, 2012.

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